Beterbiev Versus Bivol: Why all the hate?

[Joseph]

I've seen this fight three times now and frankly don't care to see it again for a while.

I leaned Bivol the first two views, but with the third, I lean more toward a draw, but not mad that Artur got the decision.

These two guys are fantastic and they now have cemented that "rivalry" which can lead to a rematch or even a trilogy.

Can't complain.

[Boxing 112]

My own opinion about the fight is that it could have gone either way, depending on what was emphasized in the scoring... I want to briefly make a case for Beter... At least to show this was no robbery. I am not going to score the fight! I am doing this from a different perspective. I value those who score fights, but often, just counting shots is little more than glorified punch stat info. My interest is what actually happened, who displayed dominance, more skill, more damage, to the opponent, whom was damaged, etc.

Before the fight started: Lets assume both men were "champions" of the same merit. So neither man was considered the champ going in... Now lets look at the the ebb and flow of the fight, particularly the last two rounds:

1. Lets assume Bivol won the first two rounds

2. Lets assume Beter won the last two rounds...

3.There is a fundamental difference in the importance of these last two rounds versus these first two rounds. Beter dominated the championship rounds... His impact on Bivol was tangible. In a real analysis, if this difference can be scored, it should be. I would give Beter at least another round for dominating these rounds... So lets say at this point Beter is up one round and we have rounds 3 to 10 to look at. 7 rounds in total. minus one "even" round we gave Beter for the last two rounds... So we have rounds 4 to 10 for a total of 6 rounds.

4. In these six rounds, would we give either guy any dominant rounds? Where there any outstanding rounds for either guy? Would we rather give points for effective aggression? counter punching? sharp punching? My point is: it is really these rounds which are in contention. Six rounds, or so, where neither guy managed to do much to the other guy. This left a lot of latitude for scoring.

5. My final point is about modern boxing and "punchers" specifically since the change from 12 to 15 rounds: This change greatly benefitted the boxers. A puncher had less rounds to work, and the puncher, defensive oriented stylists, had 3 less rounds to have to avoid the puncher. Beter had Bivol in trouble... marginally, but, never the less... I think this fact should be important considering the scoring, in some way... How can we expect punchers today to KO opponents with the same regularity as when they had 3 more rounds to do so?

My point here is not to score the fight, but to show it was a fair decision. I eat crow humbly... I thought Beter would KO Bivol, in 10 rounds, or less. I do think he would have in a 15 round fight, but I was wrong. I do however think the decision was fair.

1. The word robbery is over used
2. Pundits/Commentary influence a lot of peoples of opinions of what they are seeing e.g dazn pundits/commentary will always be biased towards favouring matchroom fighters cause they work in the same circle
3. Congratulations Beterbiev.

[crimsonfalcon07]

I thought Bivol would win, and scored it for him. 8-4 Beterbiev is a terrible card, but it was a close enough fight that I wasn't confident in my scores, and felt a draw would be fair. Loma v Haney was far closer to being a robbery, and Valdez v Conceicao, Navarrete v Conceicao, and Conceicao v Foster were all more obvious robberies as well.

[elfag]

it was close and not a draw. pretty much everyone was predicting a definitive win so its a bit unsatisfying. i was predicting a beter KO and am unsatisfied. i didnt score the rounds but i was surprised they gave it to him. i thought beter started too late.

if you were picking bivol by a schooling, some even picked him by KO which i think is insane but then to see him get battered the late rounds that has to be unsatisfying as well.


so nobody is really happy with the outcome despite it being a very competitive fight without any fouls or anything. we do need a rematch for sure

[billeau2]

I've seen this fight three times now and frankly don't care to see it again for a while.

I leaned Bivol the first two views, but with the third, I lean more toward a draw, but not mad that Artur got the decision.

These two guys are fantastic and they now have cemented that "rivalry" which can lead to a rematch or even a trilogy.

Can't complain.

Joseph your comments remind me that true boxing fans appreciate fights that may not look like exciting affairs but are incredible opportunities to watch the Masters at work.

[billeau2]

it was close and not a draw. pretty much everyone was predicting a definitive win so its a bit unsatisfying. i was predicting a beter KO and am unsatisfied. i didnt score the rounds but i was surprised they gave it to him. i thought beter started too late.

if you were picking bivol by a schooling, some even picked him by KO which i think is insane but then to see him get battered the late rounds that has to be unsatisfying as well.


so nobody is really happy with the outcome despite it being a very competitive fight without any fouls or anything. we do need a rematch for sure

Lol I felt just as you did! I also think this fight would have been great at 15 rounds. We would have seen if Bivol could fight off Beter coming strong!

[TMLT87]

It was a little anticlimactic and disappointing that we didnt get a conclusive result after all those years of waiting.

As for the action itself, solid fight, not a great one.

[JakeTheBoxer]

It was a little anticlimactic and disappointing that we didnt get a conclusive result after all those years of waiting.

As for the action itself, solid fight, not a great one.

Usually happens on elite level, when neither guy is much better than the other one.